Mirror of the Soul: The Tale of Kylus Dragonsbane
by pjb
Summary: A Paladin-turned-Priest reflects on his first 60 years, and his journey for inner peace...
1. Unveiling the Mirror

/* A/N: Well this is my first story to . I should warn everyone that  
* it's going to be long...I don't do short very well, I'm afraid. This is  
* basicly the life-up-to-now of a Character I've roleplayed for 10 years,  
* 7 of which have been online in various forums. That said, some elements  
* might be familiar to some readers. So before we go any farther:

#ifdef COPYRIGHTED_STUFF  
#define DISCLAIMER "DragonLance is owned by Wizards of the Coast, Margaret  
Weis, and Tracy Hickman. RhyDin is owned by America  
Online Incorporated. I don't claim to own any of these  
settings or the characters within them. My character  
just passed through. ;)"  
#endif

/* Now that that is done, I would like to say 'enjoy the show,' and please  
* drop a review or contact me with comments or  
* criticisms. I respond to all constructive emails :) Flames will be routed  
* to /dev/null though. Anyway, enough of my babble. Enjoy!

Chapter I: Unveiling the Mirror

* A firm hand dipped the quill into the ink and then applied it with careful  
accuracy to the parchment upon the battered wooden desk that he sat at.  
Tired eyes gazed down at the first word he wrote upon the browning paper.

"Peace."

* He smiled softly, sadly, and paused a moment as if recalling a hundred,  
million memories all in the span of a few seconds, and then continued  
writing...

Peace.

It is all I've sought for my life. Peace for my soul, peace for my mind.  
One would think that it is not a hard thing to find, but I would beg to  
differ. I am getting ahead of myself though. Those that know me are aware  
of my ability to digress quickly and lose myself. For you, good reader, I  
will do my best to avoid such diversions and thank you for opening these  
pages. I have never considered myself worthy of being recorded in the  
annals of history, nor do I deserve that honor now; what I write here, I  
write for my own peace of mind and more so for those I knew, those I've  
lost, and those I wish to be remembered long after I depart this world.

My name is Kylus Dragonsbane, and since the year 466 of the Arangothian  
Calendar, I have served the kingdom of Arangoth as the Royal Priest. But I  
am not a native of this great kingdom; I am a wanderer, cast away from my  
home. My home, you ask? The western regions of the continent of Ansalon.  
Again I digress; please forgive me, and I shall start at the beginning.

The Dragonsbane family is a relatively old line in my homeland. Despite  
our name, the recent generations that I was told of had nothing to do with  
the slaying or conflict with the Gods' Children (dragons). My father told  
me of the start of our line, back in the days of the Cataclysm, when a  
young man took up a sharpened stick and drove it into the chest of a white  
dragon that had fled the destruction of Istar and sought to terrorize the  
people on its way to colder regions. Alas, neither my father, his father,  
or myself are such brave men as the first, and I unfortunately cannot say  
anymore about the matter, for the knowledge was never given to me.

My birth was not an event to be remembered. My father, Kail Dragonsbane,  
was a metalsmith and jeweler who ran an average shop with above average  
skill in both craftsmanship and business sense. My mother...my mother was  
named Talia E`liara, and she was an exile from the xenophobic kingdom of  
Silvanesti, home to the High Elves. How these two individuals met and fell  
in love is known only to the Gods, for I was never told the tale, and any  
who knew it are lost to me now. The prejudices that exist in today's world  
were more than prevalent in my homeland. My mother was feared by the other  
humans that lived in our town, and my father was not a strong man. He  
believed, sadly, that if he ignored a problem long enough it would go  
away.

It was that belief and the continued persecution of my mother that caused  
her to flee back to Silvanesti to seek sanctuary. I would, many years  
later, learn that she had indeed obtained it, but from the age of three  
until I departed my home, I did not know my mother. I grew up mostly  
alone, for the other children did not like to associate with 'the  
half-breed' (though my Elven blood did not shine through in the form of  
pointed ears and delicate features; if it had, I may not be here to write  
this, my friend). Subsequently, growing up was often-times a difficult  
matter for both myself and my father. Half-Elves, as you may imagine,  
mature at a much slower rate than humans. My father was sometimes at his  
wit's end when I could not seem to meet up to his expectations. I do not  
blame him for his lack of patience though; he was a skilled man with  
metal, but his knowledge of other cultures and people was nonexistent. I  
did the best I could for him though, for I did love him very much. He  
taught me what he could, though I dare say my jewelery-making skills have  
deteriorated over the long years.

I was fortunate enough to attend the school present in the town. My father  
was well off thanks to his skills, and the schoolmaster was a far more  
tolerant man than any other in that pit of unfortunate ignorance. I  
focused on learning and education as best I could, since I adamantly  
believed that it would open a path out of that town. I learned the Common  
Tongue quickly and properly, learned the basics of mathematics, and even  
learned to speak the rudiments of my mother's native language, thanks to  
private sessions with the schoolmaster, who I discovered (many years later  
when I was able to logic the pieces together), was of a similar bloodline  
as myself. Knowledge and education became the basis for my continued  
existence in that western town. My father taught me what he knew of  
business and metalworking, but I did not take to it as much as he would  
have liked. Still, he was relatively pleased to see that he obtained his  
money's worth out of the school. We were both relatively content; my  
father had his business and his reputation kept most of the town away from  
me. I was left alone to pursue my studies in peace (not that had I a wish  
to bother anyone to begin with...far from it).

Life continued as such for 18 more years. I was 21, a child to the Elves,  
and teaching from the shadows at the school I loved when my life took a  
drastic turn. Perhaps if I had the foresight I have now, I might have  
known such a thing was going to occur. But the young are generally too  
concerned with the future and where they are going to see what is right in  
front of them. I had returned from the school as the sun had set, as I  
usually did. My father, oddly enough, was waiting for me at the table, a  
slight smile on his face as he waved me to come in and sit down. There was  
food at the table, another odditity since he usually ate long before I  
returned from study.

"Father?" I'd asked, the confusion so apparent in my voice that he had to  
chuckle.

"What is the matter?" he asked gruffly, though I could tell by the look in  
his eye that he was not upset. Amused was more like it, "Can't a father  
sit down for once with his only son for a meal?"

"I...of course he can..I mean of course it's just..." I stammered and he  
only chuckled harder. I gave up attempting to figure out what was going  
on. It was not my birthday (and it usually was not cause for celebration  
anyway), and I could not think of any other good reason why he would do  
something so blatantly..fatherly. I sat down and served him, then myself,  
and we ate in silence for a very long time before Kail broke it with a  
soft voice.

"Kylus..."

"Aye, Father?" I asked him, swallowing quickly as he gave me a stern look  
for talking with my mouth full.

"You know I love you and your mother very much, eh?" he admitted flatly. I  
nearly choked on the last bit of food from my plate! Never in 20 years had  
I ever heard him say he loved me, much less my mother. I set my fork down  
and stared at him.

"Father are you all right?" I asked bluntly. He smiled and nodded, saying  
to me, "Aye son I'm all right. I just needed to make sure you knew that.  
I've not said it too often, if ever, and I needed to say it at least  
once." he said, clearing his throat, "You're a young man now, at least by  
human standards, and you'll be off on your own before you know it. I just  
wanted to make sure you knew that I loved you, son."

"There'll be plenty of times for that, Father." I said, my puzzlment over  
the sudden admission of the gruff man I'd lived with drowned out by a  
sense of warmth so strong that it masked the chill I felt going up my  
spine (for part of me wondered why after all this time, but the greater  
part of my being told it to hush). "But I know you do...and I know you  
loved mother. We both love you too." I said, feeling that I could safely  
speak of my mother without him losing himself to anger or grief, as he was  
prone to do in the past.

"Ye got studying early again tomorrow, aye?" he said suddenly. I nodded  
and he waved me away, "I'll clean up then. Good night, son." I blinked,  
but nodded again, murmuring good night to my father and leaving him in the  
front room at the table. I found my bed in my room past his and all but  
collapsed on it, the weight of the day, good food, and my father's candid  
admissions crashing on me and lulling me to sleep quite quickly.

***

I awoke just before dawn as usual. The school was not in session today but  
that would not stop me from going there and continuing the work I'd left  
unfinished the night before. I yawned as I crawled out of bed and splashed  
some water from the wash basin onto my face to wake up. Pulling a tunic  
over my head I stepped out of my room and paused, glancing at my father's  
bedroom. The door was open and the bed made. It was not like him to be up  
this early.

"Father?" I called out, stifling another yawn as I made my way into the  
front room. Judging by the chill in the room, the hearth had gone cold. I  
saw the table, with the dishes still dirty and where we'd left them last  
night. And then I saw my father, head down, sitting in the chair. I shook  
my head; it'd been a long time since he'd dozed at the table. I smiled and  
shook his shoulder gently.

"Father, get up." his head lolled a bit and I frowned as the fingers of  
dread gripped my spine. I knew it already, but my voice still came once  
more in a faint, hopeless whisper.

"Father..?"

***

"His heart, son." my schoolmaster said softly as he laid a hand on my  
shoulder, "Kail had a weak heart. He never mentioned it to you?" I shook  
my head mechanically as my eyes focused on the two men that were bearing  
my father's body out of the house. My teacher sighed softly and said,  
"Come...we'll find a peaceful spot for him, Kylus."

And we did. I did not have much coin to my name, but I did give a few of  
the cut stones that father had prepared for future works to the gravesman,  
something that ensured my father would be comfortable for his last  
journey. I stayed at the site a very long time-from noon until the sun  
dropped down behind the hills around the village-staring at the  
newly-engraved headstone and thinking about the conversation that had  
taken 21 years to come into being, and only 3 moments to pass.

'...you'll be off on your own before you know it..' he had said to me. Had  
he known? To this day I wonder if my father had somehow known his own end  
was coming about. Perhaps the Gods had granted him his way to make peace  
bluntly before They took him home. I suppose it is not for me to ask  
though; I am only thankful we had those few moments that night in our home  
together. "Thank you, Father."

When at last I decided to leave the grave site, it was dark and the moons  
were high in the night sky. I was lost in my thoughts, unsure of what I  
was going to do at this point. I enjoyed my learning, but surely now I  
would have to continue my father's business at least until I could settle  
his affairs, and save enough money to perhaps travel to the northeast to  
Palanthas, where a larger school was based.

The town seemed to have already made up its mind for me though.

When I arrived at my home I found the shutters on the windows broken, the  
door kicked in, and people milling around the front as if it were on sale.  
People, some who I'd known all my life, were pulling things from my home  
and walking off as if they owned them. I felt anger boiling inside of me  
and I stormed through the crowd, shoving and elbowing my way past the  
thieves and up the stairs into my home. "What is the meaning of this!?" I  
demanded to the Elder, who I found inside, his fingers clenching some of  
my father's unfinished works.

"Yer father is dead, boy." the man snapped back to me, "Since ye got no  
rights on this stuff, it's every man for himself!"

"What do you mean I have no rights?" I snarled at the Elder, resisting the  
urge the lunge at him and wrap my fingers around his neck, "He was my  
father and I am his heir! This is my property!"

"Half-breeds don't get property!" he snapped, nodding to two of the  
burlier townspeople that had joined in the piracy. I felt hands on my  
shoulders and arms and before I could react, I was being dragged out of my  
own home and thrown into the street, much to the amusement of everyone  
gathered outside.

"Get out of here!"  
"..ain't got your father to hide behind anymore!"  
"...worthless halfbreed.."  
"...should stretch his neck.."  
"Run after your mother, whelp!"

The insults hurt far less than the impact on the ground, or the  
realization of what had just occurred crashing down upon me: I had been  
thrown from my own home, everything I owned taken from me, and the only  
family I had lost to me, gone home to the Gods. The world was spinning as  
I tried to stand myself up, intent on going back into -my- house and  
teaching the Elder what a 'half-breed' could do, but for some reason the  
ground would not stay under my feet. My face was wet-were those  
tears?-and the next thing I knew, the ground and my head were  
well-acquainted once more.

***

I awoke to candlelight and the soft scuffling of cloth. For a moment I  
thought it had all been a dream. Then my eyes focused, and I realized  
where I was.

"The school...?" I blurted out slowly, more than little confused. How did  
I get here?

"I brought you here." came the familiar voice of my teacher in answer to  
my silent question. I turned my head over my shoulder and glanced at his  
face, the lines of worry highlighted by the candle he held in his hand.  
"You have to leave, Kylus."

"Leave?" I stammered, "Leave where? Just where am I supposed to go?" I  
demanded, the realization that it had not been a dream coming back to me  
and the words of my teacher causing the anger to flare up within me again.  
The more rational part of my being told me I was acting like a child, but  
that voice was drowned out by the voice of despair. "I have nowhere to go  
and nothing to take with me." I snapped at the schoolmaster.

"Not quite." he said, his voice gentle, caring, eyes filled with  
compassion. He pointed behind the palette I was on, and I glanced over to  
see a bundle of cloth. Opening it, I gasped at the contents: things of my  
father's from the house. My father's sapphire ring, a wedding present from  
my mother to him, along with a pouch of coins, some clothes, a few of my  
books, and something that almost made my heart stop. It was a small wooden  
plaque, the front plated with bronze and silver and worked over with  
colored enamels into the...

"...family crest." I blurted out, taking it into my hands and cradling it  
as if it were a small child. I looked up to my teacher, my jaw clenching  
as I fought to quell the emotions that were brimming within me, "How?" was  
all I managed before my lips closed tightly once more.

"I feared this would happen." he said back to me softly, "So after we  
brought your father, I rushed back to the house and took what I thought  
you would need, son. I don't know if it will be enough, but it should get  
you south."

"South?" I asked.

"Aye," he nodded firmly, "There is a temple to the south east, run by  
priests. I think they will be able to help you continue your studies."

"But, I don't want to leave!" I blurted out, "This is my home, and I want  
to stay here." I was not leaving! If they wanted me gone they were going  
to have to kill me and toss my corpse beyond the borders of the town!

"You have to go, son." my teacher said sharply, "Aside from the fact that  
I can't teach you anything new, the wild rumors about riches hidden with  
Elven magic have already started. If they find you now they'll beat you  
until you tell them whatever they want to hear. You need to leave!"

There was a heavy silence between us for long, agonizing moments, broken  
only by my heavy breathing as I fought the urge to succumb to the hysteria  
unleashed this morning with my father's passing. I clenched my teeth,  
fighting it down and saying in a stiff, monotone voice, "How far is this  
temple?"

"I'm not certain. Many days to the south, son." my teacher replied, relief  
flooding his eyes as I acquiesced to his will, "I've packed food for you,  
and you should hit some towns on the way that will be able to buy some of  
your father's works for extra coin. It's dark now, so you should go before  
they come looking for you."

"Master..." I started to choke out, but he silenced me with a wave of his  
hand.

"Just go, Kylus!" he said sharply, "Just go! Trust no one until you find  
the priests in the south! Now off with you before they come!"

I could feel the tears welling in my eyes; the events of the day were  
culminating at the end of my teacher's hand, which pointed towards the  
back door of the school in a final gesture. I swallowed hard and ran  
towards the man, embracing him in a quick, tight hug.

"Good bye, Master." I said raggedly. I felt his hand on my head and I  
knew he had the soft smile on his face though I couldn't bear to look up  
at him lest I lose my resolve and demand to stay again. "Thank you.."

"Good bye, son." he said as he let go of me and force me from him, "You're  
a good boy, Kylus, and your father was too. Don't ever let anyone tell you  
otherwise. Go out and show them what you can become. Go now quick..quick!"

With a last wave, I grabbed the pouch full of the remnants of my life and  
vanished out the door of the school.

***

By the time I turned my head back to look at my home town, I could barely  
make out the tiny pinpricks of orange light that were the torches carried  
by the greedy, ignorant fools who, as my teacher had predicted, were now  
combing the town in search of the 'Elven-hid treasure' they wanted to  
believe my Mother hid in our property. I stood on a hill, watching the  
lights dance about for a few moments, my face streaked with the tears I'd  
refused to shed in front of the one man I still respected in that place. A  
small part of me wanted to rush back in and take revenge for the insults  
they cast at me, but the greater part of me was in charge now and that  
voice told me to follow the Master's instructions, and go south. Things  
would certainly be better in the south, away from this blind hatred and  
ignorance...wouldn't they?

I picked up a stick and threaded it through the end of the pouch. Slinging  
it over my shoulder, I gave one last look at the town, which was shadowed  
by the faintest hint of the coming dawn. Then I looked ahead of me, down  
the road that would connect with the Southern Highway. The peace I'd had  
in this place was shattered, and as I closed the first chapter of my life,  
I looked forward to finding it again in another place, away from here.

'Go out and show them what you can become.'

- To Be Continued...


	2. Clouded Vision

/* Summary: Kylus recounts events that brought him to a town south of his  
* homeland. His encounter with a bunch of shady individuals leads him  
* to question the path his teacher set him on, and awakens some odd  
* abilities from within himself. As always, the standard disclaimer   
* applies:  
*/  
  
#ifdef COPYRIGHTED_STUFF  
#define DISCLAIMER "DragonLance is owned by Wizards of the Coast, Margaret  
Weis, and Tracy Hickman. RhyDin is owned by America  
Online Incorporated. I don't claim to own any of these  
settings or the characters within them. My character  
just passed through. ;)"  
#endif  
  
/* Thanks for reading :) --pjb */  
  
  
Chapter II: Clouded Vision  
  
"Fine jewelery for sale!" I called from the corner of the street. The town  
of Treasnar was much smaller than my home--former home--but the people  
were of roughly the same cut as those I once knew. I was three days south  
and east of my shattered life, but it seemed like eons ago.   
  
After I departed my home town like a thief fleeing the dawn, I ran for an  
unrecalled amount of time, mechanically placing one leg in front of the  
other until I collapsed from sheer exhaustion, both physical and mental. I  
had fallen into a nook off the main town road, one that would keep me  
hidden from view from the ordinary passers-by. Placing my bundle under my  
head, I settled in for a brief rest, judging that it was better to travel  
later in the day and by night in case some of the townsfolk decided to  
look for me.   
  
I slept like a dead man for only a couple hours, before the crackling of  
twigs and rustling of leaves around me jarred my senses back to the real  
world. I groaned as the light of day assaulted my eyes and voices, faded  
and only vaguely intelligible, came to my ears.  
  
"...not dead..." I thought I heard.  
"...yet..." came another, followed by a dry chuckle.  
"...enough crap." came a distinctly female voice. I sat up, looking around  
and placing one hand in my cloak to give the appearance that I was armed.   
  
My eyes came into focus and I saw two men, one bearing a cudgel and the  
other a shortsword, crouched and ready to defend the woman behind them,  
who did not look ready to fight but instead looked at me with pure  
amusement in her grey eyes.  
  
"What do you have in there boy?" she asked me calmly, "A dagger, a dirk,  
or perhaps just your fist?" I felt the blood rush to my face quickly at  
her words, and pulled my hand from the folds of my clothing. The two men  
each gave a short sigh and relaxed, and I couldn't help but give a slight  
satisfied smile that my ruse had put them on guard. The grin did not last  
long though; the realization that I was at the mercy of these obvious  
highwaymen was enough to put amusement out of my mind.  
  
"What do you want?" I managed to blurt out with a realtively steady voice.  
As if I did not know what they wanted. Instinctively my hand clutched the  
bundle that served as my pillow and carried the remnants of my life in its  
folds. The two men gave me toothy grins and the woman just smiled  
pleasantly.  
  
"Now that's no way to make introductions, kid." the woman said. Kid?  
Surely I didn't look as young as my blood made me to be. Or did she have  
insight into what I was? It was then that I noticed it: the fine hair  
tied back off her neck, exposing delicate pale ears that rose into perfect  
points along her skull.  
  
An Elf. To her it was likely the eldest in my town was a 'kid.'  
  
My staring must have been noticed, because she gave an annoyed huff and  
pushed past the two burly men with her, heading towards me and saying,  
"Didn't your parents teach you not to stare?" The mention of my parents  
caused my face to screw up as anger flared anew in my heart. I slid back,  
away from her approach a bit and clutched my bundle even tighter,  
repeating my question, "What do you want?"  
  
"Just a bit of conversation with a fellow traveler." she replied. Her  
words hit my ears and--though I can explain it now I could not then--they  
caused my stomach to twist in a small knot, and for some reason the backs  
of my hands began to itch incessantly. I scratched at them, knowing  
somehow that she was lying outright or only telling half a truth. I eyed  
her warily, unsure of her words and more than a little wary of her  
actions. She merely sat down a few feet from me, and regarded me with  
amusement in her violet eyes.   
  
"What're you doing out here, kid? They finally cast you out?" she asked.  
The question was so direct that I dropped my defenses and gaped at her,  
oblivious to the musical laughter that escaped her throat.  
  
"I'm an Elf, boy." she said, "I can smell a half-breed like you had it  
branded on your head. You don't have my ears, but you're plainly one of  
them. I'm amazed ya lasted that long in that place...what are you? 19  
winters? 20?"  
  
"Twenty-one," I blurted, her words stinging me to the core.   
  
"Keepin' you as a pet and you escaped or what?" she asked. I gave her a  
puzzled look and shook my head indignantly, the very thought of such a  
thing completely foreign to me. It was then that I began to realize that  
life could have been far crueler to me than it had been; of course that  
did little to quell the anger I still felt in my stomach, but it was the  
beginning of some establishment of perspective on my part. I lowered my  
guard a bit and with one hand still clenched on my travel sack I explained  
my situation to her with as few details as I could muster..I was young but  
not completely naive. They -were- highwaymen afterall.  
  
"Bloody bastards," she muttered as I finished my brief tale. Her eyes  
regarded me with a look that conveyed both pity and--for some  
reason--amusement. "Well you talked me into it." she said suddenly.  
  
"Talked you into what?" I stammered, my blood running cold. Were they  
going to beat me senseless and take the last remnants of my life away?  
  
"We'll let you travel with us." she blurted out, causing not only my jaw  
to drop, but those of her two guards as well.   
  
"Yer kiddin' Ajoara." the one with the cudgel said incredulously with only  
a slightly delayed repeat from his partner with the shortsword. She gave  
them both a defiant look as she stood up.   
  
"Last I checked -I- was the boss of this party here, gents," she said, her  
voice changing from oddly compassionate to icy-cold in the blink of an  
eye, "and since -I- am in charge of this show, -I- say he's comin' with  
us! That clear?" she eyed one, who nodded quickly and was aped by the  
other just as fast.   
  
I swallowed hard; who in the Nine Hells was this woman that she could beat  
two large thieves into submission with just her words? My musing about that  
question was short-lived, for she turned her eyes back to me and the icy  
expression in her eyes melted once again, replaced in an instant with that  
amused pity. "Where are you going?" I blurted out.  
  
"North to Palanthas." she said simply and I shook my head mustering as  
polite a response as I could, "I'm sorry, but I must go south. There is a  
temple there.."  
  
"Temple? You a priest-to-be, kid?" the man with the club asked with only a  
slight sneer. I shook my head again in denial.  
  
"No...no. There is a temple to the South," I repeated myself, much to  
their annoyance, "I hope to go there and learn. I...I study things." I  
said feebly, trying to convey to them what I'd spent the greater part of  
my life doing in the town. All I received for my efforts were smirks of  
course, but I didn't really expect much more than that; it was common  
knowledge that burglars did not really value something intangible like  
knowledge.  
  
"I think you'll be best off with us, kid." the woman said to me, a grin  
on her face that did little to mask the edge on her voice; she wasn't  
about to take 'no' for an answer from me, and I dared not ponder what  
would happen if I insisted.  
  
"Alright.." I said, trying my best to sound enthusiastic. Despite my own  
lack of confidence in my voice, it seemed to be enough for her. She nodded  
and clapped me hard on the shoulder before standing up and jabbing one of  
her thumbs into her chest.  
  
"As you've already heard, m'name is Ajoara. The two lumps that walk behind  
me are Cliv and Rhis." she pointed from herself to the men with the club  
and sword respectively. "What's your name, kid?" she said, her eyes  
falling on me suddenly.  
  
"Kylus..." I blurted, "Kylus Dragonsbane." that seemed to amuse them all.   
  
"Dragonsbane eh?" Ajoara said with laughter in her grey eyes, "With a name  
like that you're destined for great things, don't you think little Kylus?"  
  
"I'm not that little." I said, indignation clear in my voice and revealing  
my actual immaturity. She only giggled in an almost girlish manner before  
waving a hand as if to draw me to my feet, "Get your things kid. We don't  
dally about when we've got a job to do."  
  
"Job?" I asked as I rose to my feet, my hand still clenched around my  
travel satchel. I swallowed hard as Cliv and Rhis eyed me, tough grins on  
both their faces as they waited for me to pass so they could bring up the  
rear. I did not know why but I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand  
on end as I moved past them, but I figured it was best to show as little  
fear as possible with that lot.  
  
"Aye a job. We're headed to Palanthus to relieve a library of one of its  
books. A collector South of here will pay us a fortune for it! And how  
will they notice one book gone anyway?" she asked with another small  
giggle. I swallowed again, feeling a coppery taste in my mouth as the  
itching on the backs of my hands returned.  
  
What had I gotten myself into now?  
  
***  
  
We traveled for hours, skirting the borders of the town to avoid any  
confrontation with its people. I certainly did not mind and I gathered  
that Ajoara did not relish the contact either. I wagered she knew what  
type of reception she'd get there, but discussing the matter did not seem  
the wisest course of action. Though my senses were a bit muddled (I'd  
never traveled outside the town I was born in), I managed to figure by the  
stars that we'd gone almost completely West. We stopped at what seemed to  
be a common crossroads, which had a small grove of forest and grazing  
grass that fed itself from a sort of oasis-spring that I guessed was an  
above-ground appearance of the underground river that fed my former home.   
  
We made camp quickly. Cliv and Rhis gathered firewood under their leader's  
order, much to their disgruntlement. Apparently now that I was with them  
they'd assumed I was to do the labor. To be frank I would not have minded,  
simply to get away from them all for at least a few moments and collect my  
thoughts on how to get away permanently. Part of me truly wanted to  
believe that Ajoara was being kind to me out of genuine compassion and  
caring for what I'd endured and what she suspected I had ahead of me, but  
another part of my being seriously questioned her motives; was she using  
me as the townsfolk wanted to as well?   
  
I was given a job after all though: I was sent to the pond to fetch some   
water for cooking, a task I gladly accepted. I took a pot from Cliv's pack  
and carried it with little effor to the edge of the clear pool. The moons  
were just coming out of their cloudy veils and shed a bit of light upon  
the oasis we were stationed at. The light of Solinari dominated the  
evening, with Lunitari being obscured by the Black Moon Nuitari. As I  
knelt by the pool and filled the bucket, I paused and looked at myself in  
the water.  
  
The light of the White Moon made my reflection bright and bathed it in a  
pale glow that caused me to grin ruefully, for I looked like some saint or  
holy man, though I was far from it considering my newfound company. I  
peered at the youth in the water: skinny and tall, my face was pale and a  
bit drawn. My brown hair was touseled and fell down past my shoulders in a  
dishelveled mess. I grinned sheepishly to my double; my father had always  
been yelling at me to "cut that mop" and I always put it off in favor of  
studying.   
  
My father.  
  
My double blurred then, his dark-ringed brown eyes shimmering in the water  
with tears. I blinked once and felt the warm wetness spill down my face,  
leaving trails in the travel dust that caked my skin. My mind screamed at  
me, berated me for acting like a child at a time like this, and in the  
company of hardened folk like Ajoara and her companions. The more I told  
myself to stop, however, the faster the tears fell, and it was not long  
before they turned into a flood that I could not hope to prevent. The  
bucket fell from my hand into the water as I drew my legs to my chest and  
cried softly into my knees. In the light of pale Solinari, the horde of   
events of the last two days--the pain, the loss, the anger--finally had  
found release from the place in my heart that I'd locked them, and I let  
them free willingly now, half-unaware and not at all caring about who or  
what may see me. I cried softly to myself, for my father, for the life I'd  
lost, for the unfairness of it all, and I looked up at the sky, at the  
constellations of the heavens, my eyes passing over the Many-Headed Dragon  
and the Book of Knowledge and coming to rest on that of the Platinum  
Dragon Bahamut. I sniffled once, one hand rubbing under my nose as I gazed  
at the twinkling group of stars with red-rimmed eyes.  
  
"Why?"   
  
"Because they have a cruel sense of humor." A gentle voice said behind me.  
I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and looked up to see Ajoara's grey eyes  
looking down at me. I smiled weakly despite the chill I felt in my spine  
and the itch that flared again in the backs of my hands.  
  
"I don't think that's it..." I said feebly. She gave one of her girlish  
giggles and sat down uninvited next to me.  
  
"You're a kid, Kylus." she said quietly, her hand still resting on my  
shoulder. "And kids never know how bad life is until it crashes down on  
their heads and gives them a thumpin' they don't forget. You're just  
getting your thump on the head, my boy. Best to make yourself strong,  
watch out for yourself and thump back when you have the opportunity."  
  
"What about taking care of others?" I muttered, finding it odd that I  
should even broach the subject with her; very few ever took care of me,  
and as it stood now I had no one else to care for save myself. Ajoara  
giggled again and said, "It's everyone for themselves, Kylus. You think  
they care--" she pointed to the stars above our heads, "--what happens to  
us? They cared so much they dropped a mountain on our heads! They cared  
enough to let your father die and let you get run off eh?"   
  
I scratched at the backs of my palms idly while my head processed her  
words. She did have a point. Why -did- the Gods drop the mountain and  
cause the Cataclysm so many centuries ago if they claimed to love us. I'd  
always read that all the Gods had committed that horrible act. Surely  
Takhisis, the Queen of Darkness, took great pleasure in the suffering  
caused by the Cataclysm, but why would Paladine, the Father of Good,  
consent to such an act? I looked at the Elf, who grinned a bit as she  
watched me process what she'd told me. The words of my teacher came back  
to me, telling me that I was a good boy. Then the words of my father came,  
drowning those out.  
  
"...show them what you can become..." maybe I could become someone strong  
enough to avenge the wrongs that were done to him, to me, and to my mother  
so many years ago.   
  
I looked up at Ajoara and said timidly, "Every..every man for himself  
huh?" as I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my tunic. She grinned at me  
and I felt disarmed by the look and could only grin back at her.  
  
"That's right, kid. Now get the bucket and lets cook some food and  
tomorrow I'll teach you a few tricks.  
  
"Tricks?" I asked, unable to contain my curiosity.  
  
She only grinned at me again and nodded, "You'll see."  
  
I grinned back and fetched the bucket, then followed her back to our camp.  
  
We ate in relevant silence. Ajoara had won me over, but her two companions  
still disturbed me a great deal. When it was time to sleep, I further  
earned their ire when the Elf announcedt that I would not have to take a  
watch that night. She told me not to get used to it though and to expect  
to start working the next day like a regular member of the crew. I barely  
heard her as I crashed to the ground and found sleep seconds after my head  
hit my travel sack.  
  
***  
  
The next day was just as Ajoara had promised me: I was one of their band  
now. I was awakened at dawn by a kick in the arse from the Elf, who,  
despite the grin on her face, barked at me to get up with the same edge on  
her voice that she'd used with Cliv and Rhis right after we met. Needless  
to say, I did not hesitate to rouse myself quickly. The entire day was  
spent walking from the oasis to the northeast, towards our destination in  
Palanthus. Cliv and Rhis made up the vanguard of our troupe, while Ajoara  
and I stayed behind, with her lecturing about slight-of-hand and trying to  
impart to me the finer points of picking pockets and using a dirk. We  
stopped on occaision so she could see if I was listening (which meant of  
course that she would attack me out of the blue, and I was expected to not  
get myself gutted).   
  
I went to bed that night with more than a few cuts and knicks, and  
countless bruises. The Elf had only one on her arm, but I was indeed proud  
of it. She seemed a bit proud as well, both of the fact that I'd scored a  
hit on her and managed to relieve her of her coin purse without her  
noticing only after one day of instruction (much to my shame I admit to  
still being nimble with my fingers, though these days I usually entertain  
children with 'magic' like this).   
  
The night found us entrenched in a rocky outcrop on the edge of a small  
cliff. Solinari was once again looking down upon us, but this night it was  
joined by its sister Lunitari. The Black Moon was not shrouding the Red  
tonight, but I could make it out by the noticeable absence of certain  
stars in the sky. I once again crashed to the ground and my sack-pillow,  
barely hearing Cliv's grunting about waking me in a few hours to take the  
watch. I grunted something that he assumed was an acknowledgement, and  
that was all I remembered of the night.  
  
Tonight would not be like the last two I spent on my new journey. I could  
tell I was dreaming by the presence of the mist around the edges of my  
line of sight...that was the sign of a dream, wasn't it? I walked a bit,  
wondering idly what this place was, and why I was here. Dreams were  
usually bits of memory put together, but I did not remember this place.  
Some said dreams were teh attempts of the Gods to talk to mortals, but I  
was not sure of that. They didn't care, so why would they wish to speak to  
us?  
  
"Of course they care.." a grizzled voice said behind me, causing me to  
jump as it countered my unspoken argument. I turned, my brown eyes  
squinting as I beheld an old man clad in mouse-grey robes and a beaten,  
floppy old hat that rose from his white-haired head and stopped at a  
point. He looked at me with knowing blue eyes and only smiled as I reached  
for the dirk Ajoara had given me, only to discover it missing.  
  
"Who are you?" I asked angrily, my helplessness in this dream causing my  
ire to rise up childishly. He snuffled a bit and said, "Who am I? Who am  
-I-?? Why, dear boy, I am..." he paused then, a puzzled look coming to his  
face as he rubbed his chin beneath the great white beard that adorned his  
face. "...oh blast it all, now who am I again?" I heard him mutter. I  
blinked then and scratched my head, wondering if the old codger was off  
his rocker just a little bit.  
  
"I am not!" he snapped at me and I couldn't help but jump once more.  
"Anyway it will come to me eventually, but who I am isn't as important as  
who you are, Kielthanas." I froze then as I felt my blood run cold and my  
knees buckle. How could have known that name? My Elven name that was given  
to me by my mother, it was something that was never uttered by my Father  
or me to -anyone- else. I stared at the old man as I fought to remain  
standing. My mouth moved, but no words came out. He just smiled and took a  
step towards me, using a gnarled wooden staff to keep himself steady. I  
wanted to back away from him, but I found my legs inattentive to the whims  
of my brain at that moment, and so I remained rooted to the spot as the  
old one hobbled over to me and set a bony hand on my shoulder.  
  
He was a mage. That was the only way to explain it.  
  
The moment his hand came to rest next to my neck, I felt the fear vanish,  
the anger subside, and a sense of peace descend so quickly that I thought  
I would burst into tears as it wrapped itself around my being. I swallowed  
hard and looked at the old man, who was still smiling gently to me. "Who  
are you?" I asked again softly.  
  
"Fizban the Fabulous, my boy," he said and I hadn't the drive to question  
how he remembered so suddenly then (I'd learn many years later it was  
safer not to ask), "And I'm here to have a little chat with you."  
  
"Chat with me? But who are you?" I repeated, my shock melting away slowly,  
"Have we met? Did you know my father? If it's about work he did for you,  
I'm sorry but I've--"  
  
"--been cast out of the town, yes yes I know...terrible thing, terrible."  
he interrupted me, tsk'ing and shaking his head as his eyebrows and  
moustaches drooped sadly, "Ignorance is nearly as powerful a force as all  
the Legions of the Queen of Darkness, my boy."  
  
"How do you know all this?" I stammered, "And how did you know my True  
Name? I've never told anyone that name before."  
  
"Your father told me, son." he said. I opened my mouth to call him a liar,  
but he raised his hand and looked at me sharply. When my jaw clapped shut  
he continued, "He didn't betray the promise he made with you about not  
revealing it son, so just trust me a bit, eh? If you're going to trust the  
Elven thief with your future then surely you'll put a little faith in an  
old man eh?" he cackled with a bit of laughter then and after a moment I  
nodded...he did have a point after all.  
  
"Well then," he said as he sat on a rock that appeared out of the mist  
from nowhere, "Let us talk then. Why don't you tell me why a bright lad  
such as yourself is about to throw his life away, abandon all the things  
he's learned, and follow a rabble to relieve Astinus of one of his books?"  
I gaped openly then. Who was this man and how did he know so many things??  
  
I regained my composure and swallowed once before answering resolutely,  
"Because what she said makes sense. Why should I go all the way south  
where they'll likely spit on me again like home when I can stick with her,  
learn how to take care of myself, and--"  
  
"--and what?" he interrupted me again, his voice gentle but firm, "Go back  
one day and take revenge on the ones who cast you out?" I nodded  
stubbornly and watched his eyebrows and moustaches droop once more.  
  
"Kylus my lad is that what you'd want to do your whole life? Work long and  
hard to harm the lives of others? What after that is accomplished? You do  
realize you will outlive them all by 50 years at least, aye? What will you  
do then?"  
  
"I don't care." I spouted, "They deserve it. I never did anything to them  
and they...they..."  
  
"They are fools, lad." the old mage said to me simply, "And they'll get  
theirs when they see the Gods. But your job isn't to arrange the meeting.  
That's for Fate to decide, not you." My blood was boiling then. Gods this  
and Gods that. I'd read about the Gods and their benevolence and wisdom  
for years before all this happened. Yet Ajoara's comments about them  
seemed so...right...so easy to believe. I looked at Fizban and said, "Gods  
this and Gods that! If they care so much why'd they let this happen to  
me?! To the Hells with the Gods!"  
  
Fizban looked at me as if I'd struck him across the face with a club. His  
moustaches wilted like a plant in the noon sun and he shook his head, "Oh  
dear oh dear, my poor child." he said softly, "Don't you think the Gods  
had a plan for you from the start?" I was not sure if the sadness in his  
voice was due to the insult I'd apparently delivered to him, compassion  
for my situation, or because I did not seem to understand something he  
considered basic. I shook my head as stubborness once again overwhelmed  
the lump I felt forming in my throat and said, "What kind of plan is  
this? I don't understand!"  
  
"Of course you don't." Fizban said, his voice soft and even, "If They  
spilled the beans now it wouldn't be a Life for you now would it? They  
have a plan for you, lad, just like they do every other person on this  
earth. The trick is taking the right roads to get where They want you to  
go. The roads aren't always easy, but at the end is something worth the  
trouble."  
  
"WHAT could be worth all that's happened, old man?" I asked again, angry  
that his words made me feel better and that, unlike many of Ajoara's  
diatribes, did not fill me with the uneasiness or chill I usually got when  
speaking to the Elf.  
  
"I can't rightly say, lad," the mage responded to me, "It really depends  
on what roads you take down the way. I will tell you this though...the  
road you're on now leads to a dead-end." I hung my head and kicked  
absently at the 'ground' of the dream pocket. I knew he was right of  
course; maybe this old man was the part of my conscience that had been  
nagging me ever since I'd started along with the Elf and her friends. I  
did not fully understand all his talk of Godly plans and Life paths, but  
something within me was screaming for my attention, trying to tell me to  
pay attention to the old man's words. I swallowed once, taking my  
stubborness and pride down into my gut and looked up.  
  
"What should I do?" I asked him, looking up at his face with its warm  
smile and eyes that extruded nothing but understanding. He cleared his  
throat and puffed out his chest a bit.  
  
"Go South, young man!" he said, pointing a bony finger behind me, "Go to  
the temple you were told about, and don't dawdle. Your future awaits you  
there. It's not an easy road, lad, but the end will be bright for you if  
you stay the course."  
  
I turned and looked behind me in the direction the old man pointed, seeing  
in the mist a strange building of white stone surrounded by trees and a  
small stream. I squinted as I strained to look at the small figures that  
walked the ramparts.  
  
"Is that the temple, Fizban?" I asked as I turned back to the mage. But he  
was already hobbling away, and I thought I heard him muttering about  
losing his hat (which I found odd at the time since it was on his head). I  
stepped after him quickly, but he seemed to be gaining speed.  
  
"Wait a minute old man!" I called out in frustration, "What about this  
plan you were babbling about?! I don't understand!"  
  
"Of course you don't, Kylus," he answered without turning to face me, "The  
Gods are the beginning and the end...you're just the middle. Mind your  
head." and then the mist consumed him.  
  
And he was gone.  
  
"Mind my head?" I asked myself, puzzled. I turned around, intent on  
looking at the building once more but instead I was knocked to the ground  
as a beam of metal hit me in the side of the skull. I groaned, one hand  
coming to rub the spot and the other again reaching for Ajoara's dirk. It  
was then that I saw my attacker, and it was no metal beam that had hit me.  
  
It was a great silvery claw.  
  
My jaw dropped and I looked up to see the underbelly of a magnificent  
beast sliding through the air above my prone body. Its scales gleamed with  
their own inner sheen as they slid through the mist with ease. I gaped as  
its tail passed over me, the very tip dangling down to brush the top of  
my head.  
  
"Dragon..." I whispered to myself in awe. It was then that the creature  
let out a huge bellowing roar, and I felt the very earth beneat my body  
tremble. I closed my eyes and covered my ears and...  
  
  
...I blinked, looking up and seeing Lunitari gazing down at me  
impassively. Something prodded me in the shoulder and I shifted my eyes to  
the right to find Cliv poking me with his foot."  
  
"Yer watch." he grunted. I nodded faintly as I sat up and shook the fog  
from my mind. My head hurt and I began to wonder if the grunt had  
clobbered me in the skull once or twice. Then I recalled the dream, and  
the old man and most certainly the dragon! But that was a dream...I  
couldn't have a headache from being clobbered by a dream-dragon.  
  
Could I?  
  
"Get goin'" Cliv muttered. I muttered something in reply and went to stand  
my watch. I stationed myself on a particularly large boulder in our  
outcrop and watched the night silently. Cliv muttered something that I did  
not make out and then found his bedroll. I listened carefully for what  
seemed an eternity for any signs of consciousness from any of the group of  
thieves. When I was certain they were all asleep, I climbed down from my  
perch and retrieved my travel sack.  
  
I paused a moment, taking a look at Ajoara's sleeping form. I nodded to it  
and whispered "Thank you." softly before taking Fizban's advice.  
  
Once again I ran like a thief fleeing the dawn.  
  
***  
  
And so four days of running and barely sleeping had brought me to the  
town of Treasnar, half starved and almost completely dehydrated. I was  
amazed that the Elf and her troops had not tracked me down. Perhaps they  
tried and failed, or perhaps the drive for money from robbing the library  
in Palanthus was more important to them than avenging my lack of good will  
for their hospitality.   
  
When I first arrived I found the nearest well and all but jumped into it.  
Some thought I was a raving lunatic but I did not care. I felt like I  
drank my body weight in water before I was sated. Afterwards I found food  
and then set to work peddling some of my late father's last wares. I would  
need the coin to get supplies that would carry me South.  
  
As I hocked the delicate chains and other meagar things my teacher had  
salvaged from my inheritance, I had ample time to ponder all that had  
happened since meeting Ajoara. The temptation to use what she taught me on  
some passersby was always present, but I supressed it and focused my  
thoughts on my dream.  
  
Who in the world was that old man? Was he the piece of my conscience  
brimming up to point me in the right direction when I was straying? Or was  
he something more? And what did the great Dragon I saw mean? Where had  
that come from? I was left with more questions that I liked, but something  
within me told me that the old man wasn't lying when he said my future lay  
to the South.  
  
I'd been tempted with a vision of 'easy peace,' but it was an illusion.   
Like Fizban said, the road wasn't likely to be easy, but I'd been set in   
the right direction once more, and this time I'd remember to stay the   
course, and find whatever it was that awaited me at the end, and hopefully  
some answers to the myriad questions the confounding old man had left me.  
  
-- To Be Continued... 


	3. Silver Lining?

/* Summary: Kylus recalls events after his abrupt departure from Ajoara. In  
* the town of Treasnar he comes to the rescue of someone who would change  
* his life significantly in the years to come.  
*/  
  
#ifdef COPYRIGHTED_STUFF  
#define DISCLAIMER "DragonLance is owned by Wizards of the Coast, Margaret  
Weis, and Tracy Hickman. RhyDin is owned by America  
Online Incorporated. I don't claim to own any of these  
settings or the characters within them. My character  
just passed through. ;)"  
#endif  
  
/* Reviews would be appreciated...hint hint wink ;) */  
Chapter III: Silver Lining?  
  
"Two silvers, m'lord." I said to the burly fellow who clenched a silver  
chain in his meaty hand. He raised an eyebrow and eyed me, then replied,  
"I've seen better work around the necks 'o women in the redlight alleys!"  
  
I paused then, fighting the smile that was attempting to sneak its way  
upon my lips; I had felt the sickly itch dance across the backs of my  
hands, the same way it had in my dealings with other fellows in the town  
of Treasnar since I'd arrived days earlier. Ever since that night that I'd  
dreamed--I think it was a dream--of the Great Dragon and the old wizard, it  
had come to me: when people lie, my skin crawled. It was unnerving, and I  
did not know why such an ability had been granted to me, but I was hardly  
in a position to ponder it. I simply snatched the chain back from the man,  
and looked at him slyly.  
  
"Perhaps then, good Sir, you'll be buying one of those trinkets off the  
fine ladies of the redlight district sometime this evening then, aye?" It  
was a risky insult and I'd more than half expected to get my teeth knocked  
in by the burly fellow for the insinuation. To my relief however, the  
large man merely flushed crimson, glanced about from side to side to see  
who might have heard, and then threw three silvers to me at once before  
snatching the chain back.  
  
"It's only two, Sir." I said, which earned me a scowl. "And one to help  
you forget we ever talked!" he grumped before trodding away quickly. Once  
he was out of sight, I let my relief and joy escape. I sat down and leaned  
against the building I'd decided to peddle my wares outside of, and looked  
at the three silvers in my palm and smiled. I could get a decent meal and  
a place to sleep finally. It wouldn't be enough to get me to wherever it  
was I was going--how I knew that was beyond me at the time, but I just had  
a feeling--but it would do for now.   
  
The sun at this point was turning in for the evening, and the shadows were  
growing long upon the ground. I decided to pack what was left of my past  
up and find rest for the night; part of me wanted to get South quickly,  
but another part realized that the fast I sold the last of my Father's  
work, the sooner I would have nothing left of him.   
  
I slung my pack over my shoulder and made my way through Treasnar's main  
square. The square served as a hub to four other squares--market, church,  
craft, and poor. One can probably guess where I planned to stay the night;  
three silvers made me feel rich as a king, but I planned to hoard it like  
a squirrel does nuts in winter. I turned southwest and strolled down the  
alleyways toward the 'economy' housing of the Poor Square.  
  
I was lucky not to run into a wall or a signpost, so lost in thought I  
was. A great many things were flowing through my head at that point: how  
much money did I think I need? Why was this happening to me? What had I  
done to deserve this fate? Thankfully, Someone must have heard all this  
and got tired of listening.  
  
"No! You can't! Please!!" I blinked and looked up from the stone I'd been  
kicking to see a frantic, middle-aged woman being dragged behind a huge  
burly fellow in a futile attempt to stop him from leaving. I looked at the  
scene and grimaced as I felt my stomach tie itself in a knot--very similar  
to what happened with I'd encountered Ajoara. The man was carrying  
something like a sack of potatoes--only it was moving and speaking.  
  
"You knew the deal.." the man grunted, "Y'don't pay the rent, yer girl  
goes to RedLight and pays it for ya." I blinked then, trying to process  
what I'd just heard, even as I looked at the girl being taken from her  
mother. She could not have been more than 12 years old, and the look of  
fear--something I'd grown to know well in the last few days--had stolen  
her ability to fight or even speak. The woman was still fighting,  
blubbering, begging, do anything in her power to stop this from occurring.  
  
"She's just a child! Please! I beg you!! Give me a few more days...tell  
Master Jeric I will have it or he can take me to pay...I--"  
  
"An old woman? I don't think so." the enforcer cut her off, "Besides,  
Master Jeric rather likes 'em young. Says they bring in a lot of money and  
are good for a long ti--" he blinked then and found himself looking at me.  
I blinked back, part of me answering his silence with more silence while  
the greater part of me attempted to figure out when I'd walked over to  
this fray, and why I was going to get involved.  
  
Something would not let me pass it by.  
  
"How much does she owe?" I heard myself ask.   
  
"Near a platinum." He snapped back, "8 and 3 silver. What is it to you,  
boyo?" I did not answer him, but dropped my pack and began shuffling in  
it. I dropped the pouch of coin that my teacher had given me--about a  
silver's worth--and all the other jewelery I still had in my  
posession...even my father's sapphire ring. Finally, I dropped the three  
silvers I'd just earned onto the pile, each *chink* as they hit the   
ground tearing into my head and my heart. The brute scowled, the girl   
stared, and the woman gaped as they watched me part with nearly   
everything of value I owned.  
  
"The jewelery is very fine, Sir." I forced calm, despite the revulsion  
this fellow spewed from his person, "That will add up to your debt.  
Consider it closed, and put that girl down." He put her down like a sack  
of old potatoes, and she darted behind her mother, watching him, watching  
me, and letting tears of fear begin to fall as the paralysis started to  
wear off. The thug picked up my fortune--and my life--and eyed it before  
turning his beady gaze on me.  
  
"This stuff ain't worth the muck these two're living in." he snorted. My  
senses chimed in again, the itch on the back of my hands flaring up. He  
raised a hand to throw the work at me, and I simply narrowed my gaze,  
causing him to give pause.  
  
"You tell your master Jeric to have it appraised." I snapped, "He will  
find it sufficient to pay the debt. Or shall I fetch a jeweler and the  
town Watch to come and we shall have it done right now? Take your spoils  
and leave this child alone." Of course, I was but a child myself in terms  
of Elven time; but he did not have to know that, did he?  
  
In retrospect, I am lucky to be alive after than altercation...but that is  
another part of the tale to come. But for now, the sight of a skinny  
half-elf lad challenging this monstrosity of a man is a memory that always  
brings a bit of a smile to my face. Someone gave me courage that day...and  
a bit of luck. But I ramble...  
  
"Bah...have it yer way. If this stuff ain't what you say it is, Jeric'll  
be after your hide next, boyo. This ain't over."  
  
"You are right about that." I retorted, "That ring is my father's...you  
can be assured that I will be coming back for it." he only snorted and  
stomped off after a final glare to the woman and her child. There was a  
long silence after he departed, the three of us watching him stalk through  
the people and finally disappear into the rest of town.   
  
I turned about then, gazing at the pair who I had just saved. They stared  
back at me with a look of confused happiness I'm not sure I could describe  
on paper. It was a very long silence that followed, as we both struggled  
for words--I was at a loss to explain myself, and they were no better--to  
break the ice and the terror that had just washed over us all.  
  
"Why...?" the mother finally blurted out. I had no logical answer for her,  
other than what I'd felt when I started.  
  
"It was right.." I said feebly. Righteousness was quickly being  
overshadowed by the realization that I would be sleeping in a doorstep  
with an empty stomach. I gave a heavy sigh and hefted what was left of my  
life over my shoulder, then turned to head toward Church Square, a  
decidedly safer place to stay the night.  
  
"...wait..." I heard the soft voice and felt equally soft hands grab mine  
to hold me back. I looked down and found the girl staring up at me with a  
grateful smile on her small face, and huge green eyes that peered up  
through her brown hair and gazed at me as if I were the coming of one of  
the Gods themselves. I could feel my face flushing in embarrassment and,  
feeling a bit foolish, I asked, "What is it..?"  
  
"..you gave him all your money." she said, "You don't live here. Where are  
you going to go?" she looked back at her mother, who was still trying to  
compose herself and deal with what had just happened.  
  
"I'll think of something," I muttered, trying to tug my hands away from  
her and feeling terribly self-conscious and foolish. It was then that I  
saw the woman--her mother--rise and dust herself off. She cleared her  
throat, giving me that stare that only a mother can invoke just right; the  
one that causes children to stop their antics and pay attention. To my  
chagrin then, I found myself doing just that, along with the little blond  
girl. "Eh...yes madam?" I started politely.   
  
"I'll have none of it, you hear?" She said matter-of-factly, "What you've  
done for us, good sir, I can never repay you...but I can at least fill  
your belly and put a roof over your head for the time you're here in  
Treasnar."  
  
"Madam I couldn't trouble--"  
  
"You can and you will!" she huffed as she raised an arm and pointed to the  
door of her house in a silent gesture of "inside now!" I swallowed hard,  
and dared not struggle or fuss as the young girl tugged me into the house,  
giggling a bit.  
  
The thug from this "Master Jeric" fellow had nothing on a mother's ire.  
  
***  
  
The house was modest, but cozy enough for the two that had to live there.  
I sat where I was told to sit, and after that the woman's demeanor became  
much more pleasant. Her daughter set basin of water for me to wash on the  
table in front of me, and I could already smell something over the cooking  
fire that made my stomach rumble embarrassingly loud. The girl burst into  
another fit of giggles, her previous fear apparently washed away in the  
midst of my embarrassment. I felt myself flush again and grasped feebly for  
conversation to distract her--and myself!--from my obvious hunger, "Thank  
you again, madam; my name is Kylus. Kylus Dra--"  
  
"Bah I won't have it." She interrupted me, "Like I said, young  
man--Kylus--I can't ever repay you..we aren't worth thanking, as we just  
cost you your livelihood. I'm still trying to figure you out, lad."  
  
"That makes two of us.." I muttered, then said louder, "Like I said,  
madam, it just seemed right." I heard another 'bah' and she turned back to  
me and set a bowl of piping hot stew before me. A piece of crusty bread  
followed along with a nice cool pitcher of water.  
  
"Don't be madaming me....my name is Abelienne. And she--" she gestured  
toward the girl who was cleaning up my wash bowl and still staring at  
m, "--is my only daughter, Arylin." The girl curtsied as if I were some  
lord to be bowed to, and I felt the embarrassment well up once more; had my  
actions really been that out of place? If so, why was the world in such a  
state that such acts were considered so noble?  
  
"You eat your fill now, Kylus, and ask for more if you want it..." my  
stomach rumbled, and I knew I could not protest that. I forced myself to  
eat slowly though; I'd embarrassed myself enough before these two women.  
The stew was filled with vegetables and a bit of meat, but very tasty. I  
dunked the bread in it and soaked up the juice before downing that as  
well. Once it was washed down with a gulp of water, I gave a sigh of  
content. Arylin and her mother at this point had began to eat as well, and  
we remained in silence until we three had finished our repast.   
  
When it was done, the girl rose and cleared the bowls. It was at this  
point that I decided to let my curiosity get the better of me.   
  
"Mada--Abelienne," I corrected as I felt her glare well up once more, "who  
is this Master Jeric that sent the man here."I heard a wooden bowl clatter  
to the floor as it fell from Arylin's hands, and the girl fumbled to pick  
it up as her mother just shook her head at me.  
  
"She pegged you..you -aren't- from around these parts are ya?" I shook my  
head, but did not offer anything further; I did not feel like relating the  
last week of misery to this woman or her terrified girl, "Jeric is the  
boss in the Redlight Square. He owns most of that area, and all the whores  
in it. He also owns a lot of the houses like this one, on the edge of Poor  
district. People who can't pay usually get sold to him as servants, but  
women are forced out onto street corners..." she trailed off then,  
glancing back at Arylin in the house's makeshift kitchen. The girl was  
making a career of scrubbing the bowls clean, trying too hard to look like  
she was not listening. I felt my stomach turn, the dinner suddenly feeling  
quite heavy as I too looked over at Arylin. If I'd not happened by...  
  
"You're a blessing from the Gods, Kylus, that you are." she said, "I'd  
give you all I had in thanks, but as you can see, we don't got much worth  
a copper around here---" I raised my hand and stopped her, "I don't want  
anything...it was right to do...that's all I knew. But why doesn't anyone  
stop this Jeric? Debt or not, what he was trying to do to--today--that  
cannot be allowed by town law...can it?"  
  
Abelienne gave a bit of a dry laugh at my words and shook her head, "In a  
perfect world, lad, it wouldn't be. But here in reality, where the  
magistrates and half the constables int he town are on his payroll,  
anything Jeric wants, he gets. The last few members of the town Watch to  
get in his way were mostly found a few days later."  
  
"Mostly?"  
  
"A piece here, a piece there." she said, and I couldn't help but  
pale a bit. Just what I needed in my life at this point: a death mark.  
Silently I cursed my overactive sense of justice, but it was half-hearted;  
looking at the girl and her mother, I knew it would be worth it, should it  
come to that.  
  
"Bah don't you worry about that, Kylus. Jeric likes his business, but he  
likes his money even more. Thanks to you, we'll be left in peace for a  
time."  
  
I nodded and fought a yawn, which ignored my attempts and came anyway.  
Abelienne smiled knowingly and said, "Heroism has a cost I suppose. We  
have a nice straw bed in the corner there for you, my young sir." Heroism  
nothing; being up since dawn on my feet shouting "FINE JEWELERY" at the  
top of my lungs had its cost. I wanted to protest but suddenly I was  
feeling the weight of the day and its events crash upon me, and before I  
knew it, I was in the bed, half asleep when I felt small hands spreading a  
ragged wool blanket over me. I opened one eye to find a pair of large  
green ones still smiling down at me.   
  
"Thank you." she whispered, following it up with a peck on my cheek before  
she crossed the hut and found her mother's arms on another straw palette.  
  
Sleep was merciful to me, unlike previous nights; no old men, giant  
dragons, or being awoken by hooligans this night. Instead the dawn came to  
find me in the form of sunlight through cracks in the walls. I cracked my  
eyes open and yawned, stretching quickly and getting the kinks out of my  
back and neck.   
  
I decided then that my welcome had been worn out and I'd been repaid  
enough. Part of me did not want to hang around for Jeric's wrath to fall  
upon me--I knew my wares would more than pay for this house's debt, but  
something within me told me that the man would not like being confounded  
as he was, especially if his henchman spoke the truth about his desire  
for new girls...another part of me did not want to be a burden to these  
people any longer, and a small part of me wanted to be on my way, money or  
not, toward the south.   
  
I rose and grabbed my pack from the corner of the house. It felt heavier  
and I suspected that Abelienne had stuffed something like food into it. I  
tiptoed with my boots off toward the door, but I heard breath catch  
before I could get out. Turning my head over my shoulder I saw those same  
green eyes peering at me, a bit of disappointment in them. I smiled back  
at Arylin, nodded, and put a finger to my nose to quiet her. Then I  
mouthed the words "Thank You" to her and was gone into the streets and out  
of the square as fast as I could be. Treasnar would be a memory by midday,  
and I hoped that Arylin and her mother would be well off, and left alone  
by this Jeric.   
  
I knew I would be back, of course; I'd made a promise to the boss'  
servant...one day I'd come back for my father's ring.   
  
***  
  
"He left, Ary?" Abelienne asked quietly, feeling her daughter nod in the  
crook of her arm. The mother wrapped her arm around her tightly, saying  
"Don't you be getting thoughts to follow him. He's got another path, that  
one. The Gods don't make them like that very often."  
  
"Will I see him again?" the girl asked.  
  
"If it's in the stars, Ary, then yes." the girl listened to her mother and  
kept her gaze fixated on the door for a long moment before speaking once more.  
  
"I will see him again, Mama..."  
  
***  
  
I did not know it at the time, but the Gods had given me a test in  
Treasnar. A test of conviction, and a test of conscience. My reward was  
poverty as I continued my journey south, but something more as well; I'd  
encountered a person who would shape my heart and life many years into the  
future. But of course I had no knowledge of this...all I could do was  
stroll the southern road, nibbling cautiously at the rations a kind woman  
gave me, and hoping I was not too far off of my destination, and my  
future.  
  
-- To Be Continued... 


End file.
